In the end, the only landscapes I saw of Java was when I arrived by plane and behind the mini van’s window who drove me from Jogja to Bromo and from Bromo to Ijen. I don’t feel like I’ve been able to experience the real countryside lifestyle but when we came back from the first hike of the tour, I start speaking with the guys working at the hotel we were staying at.
I met Alberto, a Spanish traveler in Jogja. I was searching for an express tour to see what East Java had to show in terms of Volanoes. I could have do it on my own, like a badass but after reading a lot of advices on Google from people who did it in the past, I realise that this time, an agency would be more than welcome. It really looked like a big hassle and it seems to costs more to do it on your own than with a tour.
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Who said you can’t approach art while traveling in the same way than at home?
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Luisa was my dorm mate in Yogyakarta, the last night.
Her blond curly hair and soft blue eyes must have been really appreciated during her exchange semester in Bali. She knew people around and knew some word in Bahasa which is really nice when you don’twant to look like a total tourist ready to be scammed.
Yogyakarta is different than any other city I visited in Java. The colors on the walls, the nice smell coming from every warung (these kind of small restaurants opened on the street where you can serve yourself succulent Nasi Goreng for few bills), the noise of the busy traffic, the smily people, the chicken on the road…
If you are a bit into street art, or just interested by how a country like Indonesia (and particularly Java) see graffiti and painted walls, I would suggest you to have a look on what’s going on in Yogyakarta.
It took me twenty minutes to guess that Vento was from Mongolia. If I’ve learned something during my trip is that you always can be surprised by the nationality of people. An accent or the color of the skin, the shape of the face or the way people dress themself up doesn’t mean anything and most of the time travelers have influences from everywhere.
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And girls will be girls. But sometimes girls can act like most of people think boys should act. And it’s fine, because when you travel – and in the everyday life too, of course – gender should not be a problem to realize your dream, whatever the shape it takes.
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Early morning, Vento woke me up at sunrise. She drove me to the first floor to grab a quick but huge breakfast and she dragged me to the bus station. It was hard to follow her as she is a two meters long legged girl, and I’m more the 30 centimeters kind…
I was a bit sad to leave Thailand. In the end, I spent a lot of time in this country and I started to understand the culture and thai people. Well… At least few of them!
Traveling from a point to another was easy in this part of the world and I started to get the references and know how to react to all kind of situations.
But I had to move on cause my heart was still starving for adventures and the road kept calling my name. Paolo Cohelo, my guide, said: “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine; it is lethal”. It could seems pretentious or completely out of note but when you are stuck on an island for about a week, things start to feel a bit repetitive and you can “suffer” from routine. Your feet usually start getting itchy and your back missing a weight that only your faithful backpack could fill.
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The Wanderlust Queens Project 